Nuclear lipids in Friend cells. Shifted profile of diacylglycerol during erythroid differentiation induced by DMSO

Friend cells were labelled for 90 min. with [3H]-Glycerol and the radioactivity in DAG# and TG was measured. The relative percentage of radiolabelled DAG differs in isolated nuclei as compared to intact cells. Moreover the level of newly synthesized DAG decreases in nuclei isolated from cells treated with DMSO for 24 hrs. as well as in nuclei from cells treated for 96 hrs. and terminally differentiated in the erythroid pathway. Since these changes are not seen in intact cells, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that nuclear lipids and namely the products of polyphosphoinositide hydrolysis, such as DAG, are involved in the regulation of the processes leading to cell differentiation.